The Stone of Seshat
by CrazyVampireCow
Summary: The Stone of Seshat- Legend has it that somewhere, out in the Sahara Desert, rests a stone that could destroy human kind alltogether. But it has been stolen by an evil organization. Lara needs to stop them before its too late, but can she?
1. Chapter 1

Hey... welcome to my first fanfic... Please say stuff about it... even if

it's really mean... I like having comments... it makes me feel good

(pathetic huh?)

. . . . . . Oh and don't worry Lara is in the next chapter. I am just trying to build

suspense.

**8/4/2010 In my email inbox this morning was a little note from fanfiction about someone updating one of the stories I read many years ago. Comically, about the same time as my last email from fanfiction. It is odd how time passes, taking your memories with it. I was 16 when I started this story and now I'm 22. I aim to finish what I started. Also, as I was re-reading my old work, I noticed my lack of detail and found my work utterly abysmal. So I'm going to revamp it, starting with this chapter right here. I hope you readers will find the changes to your liking.**

. . . . . . I don't own Tomb Raider or Core Design or any other company affiliated with

it.

Rats

The wind was howling. A jackrabbit sprinted across the desert zigzagging to avoid the huge dust-devils forming sporadically around it, finally making it to his hole. A horse, jet black except for a white patch over its left eye, galloped over the dunes, its strong muscles throbbing with the effort. Its rider kept his head down and leaned close to its body, placing his hands around its neck trying to shield him against the sand. He had ridden for hours in the same position. His body ached and sand had made its way into almost every orafice due to the fierce sandstorm raging around him. He urged his horse onward, trying to make it go faster, but the rider could sense his horse was weak. They had to press on. Death was certain if they stopped.

They rode on. The rider pressed his horse, using his riding crop to provide extra persuation. He stole a glance upward, visibility was non-existant. The rider pushed his face against the horse again, determined to survive. He would not die like this, this would not be the end of him. He was Ghazi, a mercenary and warrior. It would take more than a little sand to bring him down,

Suddenly, all was quiet. No more howling wind, no more pin pricks of sand hitting unprotected skin. He glanced up. It was over. He looked over his shoulder and could see a wall of swirling sand stretching upwards as far as he could see. No, it wasn't over. The storm seemed - stationary. Having spent most of his life in the desert, the rider knew this was odd. Sandstorms move with the wind, so how was this one remaining paralyzed?

He dismounted, feet sinking several centimeters into the soft sand. Brushing himself off he checked his water supply. Mud. He cursed aloud. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a worn scroll. He read the first verse.

_Through the land of many sands; That which falls from the sky as from an hourglass; To a place where Life Itself; Flows in the air._

He stopped reading there. Sand falling from the sky. He understood now that the storm had been the first test. Ancient magic was at work here.

A breeze kicked up, sending wind swirling to his nostrils. He could smell water. Consulting the scroll again he re-read it. _Life Itself flowing through the air_. Life giving water. He mounted his hourse again urged it to a gallop, racing across the sand. After a few moments he saw it. In the distance he could make out a waterfall pouring out into a vast lake. The man's small black eyes narrowed

and a half-smile appeared on his face. He kicked his horse in the ribs cruelly, causing it to rear and speed off full gallop towards the lake.

Arriving at the shores after a few minutes, the rider jumped off his horse and ran to the lake. Falling to his knees he scooped water into his hands and drank. After his thirst had been satisfied and his water stores replenished, he took time to study his surroundings. The lake was emmense, maybe a couple miles from shore to shore in any direction. The waterfall was also huge causing mist to fly into the air upon impact on the lake below. Encircling the lake were giant smooth pillars, spaced about 40 meters apart. He walked up to one and inspected it. They looked old, probably egyptian in origin. Other than that nothing. No markings, hyroglyphs, or paintings. He walked back over to his horse and pulled out the scroll. The next verse:

_Out of place it seems; Leaping to preform miracles; When only a small hop will do wonders; Victory will be in sight_

The rider's brow furrowed. Was this a joke? The verse seemed almost humorous. He thought. Why would leaping to preform miracles be out of place? Small hop? He looked around the perimeter of the lake again. Several minutes passed as the rider slowly searched the shoreline, looking for clues as to the meaning of the passage. Surely he wasn't meant to swim. Though he was athletic and muscular swimming wasn't one of his strongest points. He pocketed the map, confused to the point of frustration. Slowly roving his eyes around the shoreline they fixated onto a strange looking boulder on the distant shore on his right. Strange how he hadn't seen it before, it seemed very out of place.

Out of place! That rock was the only thing that seemed blatantly out of place! That must have been what the verse reffered to. He felt a short burst of energy from his discovery. He must get to it. He went over to his horse, mounted, and set off at a slow trot around the lake shore.

10 minutes later the rider found himself at the base of the boulder. It was much farther away then it looked, and several times more emmense. The whole thing looked like it was covered in pock marks, like what a stone from the moon would look like. Upon further scrutany however, the marks seemed to have a pattern. Maybe a form of writing? None that he had ever come across in any case. He shrugged it off. This must be the out of place item he was looking for. He jumped and caught the first ledge, and started climbing.

Reaching the top, he pulled himself up. It was unnaturally flat. Confidence swelling, he walked to the edge. Oddly, he wasnt as high over the water as he thought he would be from the long climb. He pulled out the scroll again, Leaping to make miracles. He understood what he had to do. He said a brief prayer to no diety in particular and jumped.

When he heard the splash his heart sank. However after a few moments he realized that he wasn't actually in the water. He crouched, ready for the worst. It felt unnatural; he was clearly standing in the lake when he should be swimming. He put his hand in the water. A few centimeters below the surface his hand met with an obstical. He sighed - glass. It wasn't visable from the shore because it was acutally underneath the water, not on top.

He stood up and looked toward the waterfall. Clearly visable in his current position was a small cave opening hidden in the cliffs near the cascading water. Victory was in sight.

The rider walked to the waterfall, carefully, as he was unsure when the glass platform ended. When he arrived at the cliffs he could see a hidden staircase behind the waterfall itself, seeming to lead right up to the cave. Hugging the cliff wall he inched his way behind the falling water. It was coming down hard and fast, not safe enough to simply walk through it. Reaching the staircase he sighed with relief. He sat on the fourth step and pulled out the scroll. There was no more verses. Putting it away he stood and slowly started to climb the mysterious stairs.

At the top, he entered the cave. It was ordinary, just as the pillars had been. No markings or beautiful artwork. The only thing that made it clear that it was not a natural cave was the fact that it was so square. He walked slowly through, listening to his own footsteps echo around the room. After a while he entered a vast chamber with a small pedestal in the center. He knew enough to be wary of traps. He walked slowly up to the pedestal, constantly roving his eyes around the room. He made it to the pedestal and stared down at it with triumph, for, sitting on the pedestal, was what he was after. He stood a few feet away from the pedestal and snatched the prize away with uncanny speed and lept out of the way. There was a sound from deep in the floor but nothing happened. He laughed to himself. It seemed the traps were out of order. He looked at his prize one more time before putting it in his bag. Smirking, he turned and disappeared into the darkness at the cave's entrance.

. . . . . .

So there you have it Chapter 1

. . . . . .

I will work on the next chapter for you all.

Review

. . . . . .

Special thanks go to the Goddess Z for her help with all of the

technicalities


	2. Chapter 2

WOW… it has been awhile… actually, I forgot about this. Sorry. So those of you who read my first chapter might need to read it again. Sorry for the inconviniance.

Now, without further adieu, Chapter 2 (and PS, no the guy in the first chapter is mine I'm kind of new at this so I'm not quite sure of all the technicalities of disclaimers or anything) (PPS I don't own Tomb Raider or Bryce but all the extras are mine)

The passenger-side door to a tan jeep opened briskly and a large boot stepped onto the ground with a large crunch. It was immediately followed by another one and then a pair of well built muscular legs. Lara Croft stood up and looked at the desert surrounding her. "Wait here Bryce." She said it with a soft yet firm voice. Slowly she began to walk around the jeep towards the massive pyramid towering over her. She swiveled her head around, her long braid swaying back and forth down her slim body, absorbing everything she saw. The pyramid was vast, towering so far above her she could barely see the top of it. For a brief moment, it made her feel small compared to the sheer size of the structure. But, only for a moment. She made her way under a small archway to the courtyard in front of her. It was strange, she thought she saw… a moving black dot? She walked closer warily and saw what it was. A scorpion. She took out a small digital camera and took a picture of it. "Bryce? I'm sending you a picture of a scorpion in front of me. It's probably harmless, but can you run it through the database anyway?" "OK Lara, hold on a second" She heard him typing and after a brief moment he said, "Lara? It's a small scorpion native to Africa and it feeds on small insects that dwell in the sa-" "BRYCE! Just tell me if is poisonous!" she said in frustration. "All right, keep your knickers on. They have a small amount of poison but you are only in real danger if you get stung multiple times and you said there was only one right?" Lara nodded to herself. "Thanks Bryce" and ended the transmission. She walked forward. Even if it did sting her it would only be and irritant and she had lived with worse before. However, as she drew nearer she noticed small holes in the walls surrounding the courtyard. As she passed through the threshold, swarms of the tiny black scorpions swarmed over the debris of the courtyard towards her. Swiftly, Lara ran and jumped to a small island in the black sea of scorpions that seemed to be uncovered. She made it and then made a small jump to a ledge high above and unreachable to the scorpions. She sat there panting for a moment waiting to regain her breath. From there it was an easy jump to the door of the pyramid, also out of reach to the scorpions.

The door was covered in a weird carving she had never seen before in her life. She took out her digital again and took several pictures of the door before entering. She walked down what seemed to be a large, rectangular hallway covered in the same type of markings that were on the door. Her footsteps echoed loudly off the walls and she cringed at every loud banging of her boots against the floor. She kept her senses about her, she was experienced in this type of thing and she new how tricky people could be when they were trying to hide things that they didn't want to be found. However, she found none, which surprised her greatly. She pushed forward until she entered a small room with a pedestal standing in the middle with a hole in the ceiling casting a small shaft of light upon it. Lara's eyes widened. "God damn it all" she cried angrily and turned away. Someone had beaten her to the prize.


	3. Chapter 3 :

Well now Chapter 3. Relatively faster than usual wouldn't you say?

Thanks to all who reviewed

The man with the mustache is my character as well as all of the evil guys

This was kind of rushed so if it wasn't up to my normal calibur, sorry

It was dark. Very dark. It had just rained, leaving behind puddles, brown from mud and dirt from the streets. A black taxi sped through the streets causing big waves of water through every puddle it went through. Finally, it came to a stop in front of a dingy apartment building. The door slammed open and with it a command, "Wait here." The man with the mustache stepped out and slammed the door behind him. He was wearing a black outfit with a black cape and shoes and looked very menacing, so the driver thought it best not to say anything back and was even scared enough to stop the meter while he waited.

He walked slowly forward towards the front door and went in and up to the elevator. He pushed the button for the 6th floor and waited. There was violin-jazz music on the radio. He looked up at the speaker in disgust, took out his pistol and put 3 rounds right through the center. "That's better." He said after the music stopped. He stepped out onto the landing and walked to the apartment marked 8F. He knocked and waited.

A large man opened the door, bald and terribly grouchy looking. The man with the mustache smiled his fake smile and asked for boss. The bodyguard (as the man with the mustache assumed he was) disappeared into the blackness and then came back. "Follow." He said in a harsh voice, which was heavily accented Italian. When he turned his back, the man with the mustache rolled his eyes. _Here we go._ He walked in. The bodyguard opened another door and melted away into the shadows. There was a desk in the middle of that room, with a small light lighting up the papers that a man was working on. He couldn't see the man's face, he never could. He through the velvet pouch he had been carrying on the desk. "There. Piece 2. I want my money now. This stuff is dangerous and I want to make sure I get my money." The man at the desk looked sharply up. "Do you think I am stupid? You actually believed I would allow you to take the money now, get the last piece of the stone, and then sell it on the black market? I think not." His voice was also accented Italian and very fierce. "I will give you half now, and half when the last stone is sitting in my hands. Tony!" The bodyguard came out of the shadows. "Write the man a check from my personal account for 1.5 million." The man with the mustache was furious. "We agreed on cash!" Tony came behind him menacingly. "The boss said check. Is that a problem?" Boss looked at Tony with a small smirk. "Let him alone big boy. I can handle him. I believe I said ½ as a check and the other half as cash. The last half will be in cash. Now leave this instant and get me the third piece Mr. Jahad." Jahad took the check furiously from Tony and walked through the door. "Oh and Mr. Jahad." He turned slowly. "Make sure there is no one who knows where my apartment is." Jahad turned without another word and went down the stairs. He went to the taxi and had him drive 3 blocks down into an ally. Jahad got out of the car and went to his window, as if to pay him. The driver rolled down the window. "89₤." "Huh. Isn't that a pretty penny. I don't think I will pay." Jahad took out his pistol and fired the remaining rounds into his head and walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

Whoops I did it again didn't I. Oh well I am sure you are all aware of my laziness by now. You need to remind me! Well here goes chapter 4.

(I don't know if you have to do a disclaimer every chapter so if anyone would be kind enough to include help with a review I would appreciate it. So yeah I don't own anyone u may recognize from the games or movies but every one else is my own character)

Lara burst through the doors of her mansion in fury. "I can't believe that someone beat me to the Stone! And after all that with those DAMNED SCORPIONS" Bryce was close at her heels. "You know you haven't really mentioned why you are going after this rock in the first place." Lara gave him a mean look. Bryce tried a more gentle, sympathetic approach. "Sorry Lara. It's just that," he looked down for a minute, "I thought you trusted me. And after I helped you try and get the first half I think I am entitled to know what's going on. You know, I risked my life to help you get the stone. What if one of those scorpions had found me and signaled to all his other scorpion friends that lunch was served. Or if one of those thugs who is obviously after that rock thing…" "Alright, alright, just be quiet while I explain, if that's at all possible for you to do Bryce" Lara went into the library and took down some books. "Have you ever heard of the Egyptian goddess Sheshat Bryce? She was the goddess of the books as it were. She was the goddess of libraries and scholars and anything having to do with education and reading. Now legend has it that a lowly scholar went into her temple in ancient times and offered a sacrifice to her that was pretty great compared to his lowly estate. So Sheshat came to him and offered to grant a wish for his loyalty to her. The man asked for all of the knowledge and wisdom in the world to be given to him. Now Sheshat was infuriated by the man's ignorance and greed. So she took all of the knowledge and wisdom in the world and put it in the rock and told him that when he ate it, his desires would come true." Bryce looked at her in confusion. "I was expecting more of a punishment from her. When you said 'infuriated' wouldn't that mean that Sheshat wouldn't have given the man what he wanted?" Lara rolled her eyes. "Would you let me finish? Please? She knew that he wouldn't be able to control this wisdom and it would eventually lead to his destruction. And it did. He went crazy from all of the goings on that were in his head. Hundreds of years passed and the stone remained hidden. However, according to these readings," she said, sweeping her hands over the piles of books, "Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun, thought that Sheshet was only being selfish in her not sacrificing her knowledge for the human race. And this infuriated him. Yes Bryce, that does mean there is going to be punishment. First he broke the stone into 3 pieces and sent them all over the globe; one in Egypt, one in South Africa, and one in Japan. Then he created the 'sun scepter' that gave the human that possessed it to be able to control the stone and obtain all of her knowledge and wisdom. And if someone has already obtained the pieces or even a piece, then that, Bryce, is very bad."


End file.
